C387 Qing Dynasty Scouts (1/2)
In July, there were many typhoons and heavy rains in the Pacific Ocean, so the risk of fishing at sea at this time of year was not small. In previous years, no matter how dangerous the livelihood of the fishermen in Ryukyu was, they had to struggle and go fishing at sea, or else the family would starve to death.
But in the recent year, the citizens of the Ryukyu had all been blessed by the Prime Minister Xiao, and their days became much better. It was easier to find work on the docks, and the wages were higher than before.
It was easy to earn money so people didn't want to work hard anymore. Many fishermen would rather work on the wharf than venture into the sea.
”sib! ”Bring out the dried fish from yesterday's drying sun. The weather today is really good. The sun is high and the wind is strong …” On a small mountain in the east of Naha Harbor, Fisherman Chang Sanhao was stretching and instructing his subordinates to quickly dry the fish.
”Where's the stubborn donkey? He had asked him to patch up the situation on the internet yesterday, so why wasn't there any movement today? ”This lazy bug, other than eating, he's sleeping. He doesn't do anything serious …”
Chang Sanhao stood in the courtyard outside the grass hut, and instructed the servants to quickly come out, and shouted for the stubborn donkey to come out, but they didn't come out.
The black skinny woman called sib walked out while holding a pile of dried fish, and rolled her eyes at him. Can you make up for the broken fishing net? Go to the pier and buy a new one as soon as possible, so that I won't get angry after seeing it! ”
The sib surnamed Sun was the only woman in the room. Although her face was black and thin, her features were still delicate. When she spoke, Chang Sanhao didn't even dare fart, and quickly smiled apologetically.
”Hey …” Even if we have money, we can't spend it like this? I've already bought fish nets three times this month. If I continue to buy them, I'll be afraid that others will suspect something! ”
”What kind of suspicions do I have? I have money, how do I spend it?” At this time, a tall man walked out of the house, and glared at Chang Sanhao unhappily. This fellow was the stubborn donkey who was scolded just now.
Chang Sanhao was obviously the head of this group of people, upon seeing his authority being provoked, he was so angry that the veins on his forehead popped out, ”Damned stubborn donkey, don't forget our mission! What do we have to do? How can there be a fisherman who buys a new fishing net three times a month? Is this not completely exposed? ”
”Let me tell you, if you don't weave this broken fishing net for me today, I will let you lie down and get out!”
The fact that a person's nickname could be called stubborn donkey, and people only remembered his nickname, and forgot about his real name, was already enough proof of his character. When stubborn donkey heard that Chang Sanhao actually dared to threaten him, he flew into a rage and rushed forward to give him a punch.
”Chang, you son of a bitch, remember this. I came here to be a spy, not a slave for you …” Do you think I have to listen to you just because you're a level higher than me? ”Dream on …”
”I have never played with fishing nets in my entire life. It's already enough for me to give you face by breaking three of them in half a month. Fuck, even the money given to you by the imperial government has made you embezzle?” You still dare to let me fix the net? ”Grandmother …”
Never would he have thought that stubborn donkey would actually have such a good Luohan Fist. Caught off guard, Chang Sanhao was forced to retreat step by step, and only had the strength to defend, not to retaliate.
stubborn donkey, you finally spoke the truth. You want this position of yours so badly, and you want to snatch the sib away from me! ”Let me tell you, this is a dream …”
Chang Sanhao was not giving it up for nothing, he struck out with the Praying mantis fist as fast as lightning. Not long later, the two of them became a ball of dust on the dried fish.
What was even more strange was that Sun Ximei and the dozen of fishermen around him did not feel anything strange. Instead, they laughed and shook their heads as they spread out, helping the two who were fighting to stay alert.
Chang Sanhao, stubborn donkey and the rest were just ordinary fishermen in the eyes of outsiders. They wore chinese robes and had long braids, so there were a lot of fishermen like them in Ryukyu.
During Tongzhi's era, he had experienced more than ten years of torture, and many of the rules were already dead in name. For example, the Forbidden Ocean Order, although it was still an unbreakable iron law in name, but due to the impact of the war, the local officials had long since opened their eyes and closed them.
In the past, a sail could not go into the sea, but now, it could be secretly fished near the sea. Following that, a fisherman secretly entered the deep sea to fish, and in the end, a portion of the fishermen even crossed the East Sea to fish to Ryukyu.
In this era, there were no passports. The Chinese people of Ryukyu were very familiar with the fishermen in Zhejiang province, and there were even a few families that married each other. Therefore, these fishermen lived in the Ryukyu like their second home.
However, Chang Sanhao and the rest were not ordinary fishermen, their true identities being the spies the Ministry of Internal Affairs had sent to Ryukyu to gather information for the imperial government. Especially now, after the news of Xiao Letian's death had spread to East Asia, the Ryukyu Kingdom's every move had become the focus of attention of the Manchu dynasty.
What actions would Shang Tai take? What kind of plans would the Japanese Shimadzu Family have? What kind of actions would the foreign nationals of each country take? Even the Xiang Army who was actually controlling the south of the river, whether or not there would be any covert movements, these were all subjects that the imperial government paid close attention to.
And the best source of this information was the Ryukyu. This East Sea Island country that was mixed in with China, if they wanted to keep any secrets, it would be too difficult.
”Stop! You two stop fighting each other... Look, what's on the southern seas? ” Just as Chang Sanhao and stubborn donkey were rolling on the ground with dirt all over their bodies, Sun Ximei suddenly threw the dustpan and pointed to the south side of the ocean as he shouted.